Abstract
Purpose of Work
To increase the bioproduction of l-phenylacetylcarbinol (PAC), a precursor molecule in the synthesis of the decongestants ephedrine and pseudoephedrine and which suffers from substrate, product, and by-product inhibition, by ensuring that the delivery of the substrate, benzaldehyde, is maintained within a strict concentration window.
Beads of the commercial polymer, Hytrel G3548L, can act as a sequestering phase to reduce inhibitory effects to cells of Candida utilis while creating a reservoir for high concentrations of products. In this work we varied the polymer phase volume ratio (from 3 to 15%), and modified the benzaldehyde feeding strategy to further improve on system performance, resulting in greater than 100% increase in the PAC productivity relative to a single phase control, as well as robust operation of the two-phase bioreactor with minimal operator intervention.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Boudreau NG, Daugulis AJ (2006) Transient performance of two-phase partitioning bioreactors treating a toluene contaminated gas stream. Biotechnol Bioeng 94:448–457
Gao F, Daugulis AJ (2009) Bioproduction of the aroma compound 2-phenylethanol in a solid–liquid two-phase partitioning bioreactor system by Kluyveromyces marxianus. Biotechnol Bioeng 104:332–339
Khan TR, Daugulis AJ (2010) Application of solid–liquid TPPBs to the production of l-phenylacetylcarbinol from benzaldehyde using Candida utilis. Biotechnol Bioeng (in press). doi:10.1002/bit.22839
Long A, Ward O (1989) Biotransformation of benzaldehyde by Saccharomyces cerevisiae: characterization of the fermentation and toxicity effects of substrates and products. Biotechnol Bioeng 34:933–941
Mahmoud WM, El-Sayed A, Halim MM, Coughlin RW (1990) Production of l-phenylacetyl carbinol by immobilized yeast cells: II. Semicontinuous fermentation. Biotechnol Bioeng 36:55–63
Prpich GP, Daugulis AJ (2007a) A novel solid–liquid two-phase partitioning bioreactor for the enhanced bioproduction of 3-methylcatechol. Biotechnol Bioeng 98:1008–1013
Prpich GP, Daugulis AJ (2007b) Solvent selection for enhanced bioproduction of 3-methylcatechol in a two-phase partitioning bioreactor. Biotechnol Bioeng 97:536–543
Rehmann L, Sun B, Daugulis AJ (2007) Polymer selection for biphenyl degradation in a solid–liquid two-phase partitioning bioreactor. Biotechnol Prog 23:814–819
Rogers P, Shin H, Wang B (1996) Biotransformation for l-ephedrine production. Adv Biochem Eng Biotechnol 56:33–60
Rosche B, Sandford V, Breuer M, Hauer B, Rogers P (2001) Biotransformation of benzaldehyde into (R)-phenylacetylcarbinol by filamentous fungi or their extracts. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 57:309–315
Rosche B, Breuer M, Hauer B, Rogers PL (2005) Cells of Candida utilis for in vitro (R)-phenylacetylcarbinol production in an aqueous/octanol two-phase reactor. Biotechnol Lett 27:575–581
Shin H, Rogers P (1995) Biotransformation of benzaldehyde to l-phenylacetylcarbinol, an intermediate in l-ephedrine production, by immobilized Candida utilis. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 44:7–14
Zhang W, Wang Z, Li W, Zhuang B, Qi H (2008) Production of l-phenylacetylcarbinol by microbial transformation in polyethylene glycol-induced cloud point system. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 78:233–239
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and DuPont Canada for financial support.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Khan, T.R., Daugulis, A.J. The effects of polymer phase ratio and feeding strategy on solid–liquid TPPBs for the production of l-phenylacetylcarbinol from benzaldehyde using Candida utilis . Biotechnol Lett 33, 63–70 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-010-0408-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-010-0408-4